Celtics RIP Suns behind 32 from Rondo

The Boston Celtics certainly know that it’s not always going to be *this* easy while Kevin Garnett is recovering from a strained knee over the next couple of weeks.  After Sunday’s game with Phoenix, however, it’s definitely ‘so far, so good’.  Rajon Rondo stepped up and contributed a career high 32 points as the Celtics crushed the Phoenix Suns 128-108 at the US Airways Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Rondo celebrated his 23^rd birthday with a double/double, adding 10 assists to go along with his 32 points.  Ray Allen added 31 points, with Paul Pierce contributing 26.  Brian Scalabrine chipped in for 14 points, with Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis scoring 10 off the bench.  The Suns were led by 21 from Jason Richardson, with Steve Nash adding his own ‘double/double’ with 19 points and 11 assists. Leandro Barbosa scored 18 and Shaquille O’Neal 17. 

After the game, Boston’s Pierce suggested that Rondo’s contributions were essential for the Celtics during Garnett’s absence:

"As Rondo goes, this team goes. If he plays as well as he's playing, then there's no way we can lose."

Doc Rivers noted that it was his plan to use Rondo’s blazing speed as a tactical weapon against Phoenix:

"Going into the game we thought that Rondo's speed was a huge advantage for us. I told him to be just ultra-aggressive, just attack, attack, attack."

Suns coach Alvin Gentry confirmed that with or without Garnett, the Celtics are a handful for any team:

"First of all, that is a really good basketball team with or without Kevin Garnett.  You can see they don't have a whole lot of weaknesses."

The Celtics will play at Denver on Monday and in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Wednesday before heading back to Boston for a game against Indiana at the TD BankNorth Garden on Friday night.   With Garnett out for up to three weeks, it’s obviously important for the Celtics to take advantage of a relatively weak scheduling stretch in his absence.

Phoenix, who is also dealing with an injury to a superstar as Amare Stoudemire, will host the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday before traveling to the Staples Center for a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.  They’ll return to Phoenix for a game against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.